Author: Sports Radio Service

NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Len Shapiro: Avalanche take 1-0 lead into game 2 on Saturday night at Ball Arena

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Colorado Avalanche left wing J.T. Compher, left, scores on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, right,for an overtime goal by Andre Burakovsky in Game 1 at Ball Arena in Denver on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo0

On the NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcast with Len:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning two time defending Stanley Cup Champions were edged on Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver 4-3. One game doesn’t determine the Finals but the Avalanche have been getting some lucky bounces after sweeping the Oilers they open this one up with a win.

#2 The Avalanche didn’t waste anytime in the first period they put it on net against the Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with a three goal period.

#3 Tough game for Vasilevskiy who allowed four goals would you consider this like the last series against the Rangers a slow start but they will pick it up once again when they get back to Tampa Bay.

#4 The Lightning still a competitor they fought hard enough to tie up the game with two goals in the second period it making 3-3. The Avalanche and Lightning couldn’t score the third period forcing overtime when the Avs Andre Burakovsky scored at 1:23 for the game winning goal.

#5 Len, the Lightning and Avalanche play game 2 on Saturday night in Denver after having some nine days off between series did it seem like the Avalanche didn’t miss a step in watching them in game 1.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL Stanley Cup Finals podcasts during the Finals at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Finals: Golden State Warriors World Champions After Beating Boston 103-90

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Golden State Warriors celebrate World Championship victory at TD Garden in Boston after defeating the Boston Celtics in six games on Thu Jun 16, 2022 (@warriors photo)

Golden State Warriors World Champions After Beating Boston 103-90

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the Golden State Warriors took on the Boston Celtics and closed it out in six games winning the NBA Finals 103-90 at TD Garden.

The Warriors were 0-3 in playoff play when they had the chance to close out a series on the road. On the flip side of the coin the Boston Celtics have a 3-0 record in elimination games.

Teams leading 3-2 going into a game six have an 81% chance of winning. The last team to blow a 3-2 lead however, was the Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Game 6 recap: The Celtics came into the first quarter on fire taking a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes. A couple of turnovers from the Warriors and a couple of three’s from Jaylen Brown was the difference in this game with a long long way to go. Three minutes into this game Klay Thompson was already in foul trouble and later Kevon Looney would find himself in foul trouble as well with two fouls. In a 17 point turnaround the Warriors took a 27-22 lead after 12 minutes.

The Warriors took a 15 point in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Marcus Smart had his third foul in the quarter but the Celtics were fighting their way back into this game trailing 37-29 with a lot of time left in the second.

Looney picked up his third foul in the second quarter. With under three minutes left in the first half the Warriors had taken an 18 point lead 51-33. Draymond Green was having an amazing game offensively and defensively with five points, five assists and seven rebounds. Golden State led at the half 54-39 with the Splash Brothers each turning in 12 points.

Boston turned a 22 point Warrior lead into 12 in the closing minutes of the third quarter, With under two minutes left in the third Boston had made a real push trailing 76-66 after three. It had been a 16-4 run for the Celtics despite a 17 turnover tally.

Golden State turned it on in the fourth quarter leading 101-86 with 1:30 remaining in the game. There would be no collapse for the Warriors in this game. The Celtic turnovers were a huge factor in the Boston loss. The Golden State Warriors were the NBA World Champions. The final was 103-90. It was nothing short of a finals masterpiece.

Curry was back after a tough game five with 34 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Green was amazing with 17 rebounds, eight assists and 12 points. This was a real team effort that could not have been accomplished had it not been for every single player on the floor tonight.

A rough start for the Warriors turned into a glorious finish. “I’m so proud of our group. I thank God everyday that I get to play this game at the highest level with some amazing people,” said Curry the NBA Most Valuable Player after the game. “What we’ve been through in the past few years: it’s amazing. We hit rock bottom with injuries. We never take this for granted because you never know when you will be back here” he said.

It was a massive celebration for the Warriors on center court and a tough pill to swallow for the Celtics watching their opponents celebrate on their home floor. There was a huge celebration back at Chase Center with a watch party inside and out.

The Warriors now have their fourth championship in eight years, a level that few teams have been able to reach. They came so far in the past three years, going from worst in the league to world champions making this championship probably the sweetest they have ever celebrated.

NBA Finals/Golden State Warriors podcast with Barbara Mason: Warriors at the top of the mount again defeat Celtics 103-90; Win NBA Championship in six games

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The Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) high fives teammate guard Gary Payton II (0) in second quarter action at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jun 15, 2022 in game 6 of the NBA Finals (AP News photo)

On Golden State Warriors podcast with Barbara:

The Golden State Warriors put away their fourth NBA title in eight years, with a defeat over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night 103-90. There was no stopping Warrior guard Stephen Curry who scored 34 points and receive the NBA Finals trophy for the Finals MVP.

The win awarded Golden State their seventh franchise trophy since winning their first one back in the 1974-75 season. After winning five straight championships the Warriors cooled off for three season which included a season worst for them three seasons ago.

For Warriors head coach Steve Kerr it was his ninth championship overall including five times as a player, his sixth as a head coach and his fourth title as coach of the Warriors.

Barbara Mason was the Golden State Warriors beat writer for the 2021-22 season at http://www.sportsradioservice.com. Also our thanks for to Jerry Feitelberg and David Zizmor for their podcasts on Warriors basketball this season.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: A’s scratch out a second win to end nine game road trip in Boston

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Tony Kemp (5), Chad Pinder (10), and Elvis Andrus (17) all celebrate the Oakland A’s win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thu Jun 16, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 Thursday night in Boston the Oakland A’s (22-43) picked up their second win to conclude their nine game road trip on Thursday night. The win marked the A’s second win in 15 games overall with a razor close 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox (34-30).

#2 The A’s got help from starting pitcher Paul Blackburn who pitched into the sixth inning and got some run support from Christian Bethancourt who slugged a two run RBI single.

#3 The A’s also got some offensive help from Chad Pinder who got an RBI single. The A’s had a three run top of the third inning that gave them some insurance going forward in the contest.

#4 In a recent interview with A’s general manager David Forst, Forst said some of the reasons for the A’s struggles were coming from the ball park issues and what is happening on the field. The A’s had dealt some of their key players and basically Forst said the club shouldn’t be expected to win like they had in previous years.

#5 The A’s open a three game series Friday night against the Kansas City Royals at the Oakland Coliseum starting pitchers for the Royals no starter announced yet the A’s will go with Frankie Montas (3-6 ERA 3.40) a 6:40 pm PDT first pitch at the Coliseum.

Join Jeremiah for the A’s podcasts heard Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Daniel Dullum: Belt’s back in full form; Hits HR on Wed against Royals

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The San Francisco Giants Brandon Belt rounds third base and heads home after hitting a bottom of the fourth inning home run at Oracle Park in San Francisco against the Kansas City Royals on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the Giants podcast with Daniel:

#1 One of the key figures in the San Francisco Giants line up is back since Tuesday night Brandon Belt who was a pinch hitter and on Wednesday was a designated hitter. Belt had been on the IL since May 18th.

#2 In the fourth inning on Wednesday Belt worked the an eight pitch count to 3-2 before hitting a rocket in the center field Kansas City Royals bullpen. It looks like Belt hasn’t missed a step.

#3 Fans have a waited over a month for Belt’s return and got their monies worth saluting the team captain as he rounded the bases after hitting the massive home run.

#4 The Giants did lose a tough one 3-2 Wednesday in a close game Giants starting pitcher Sammy Long pitched the first three innings giving up two runs and three hits but didn’t take the loss.

#5 The Giants open a three game series in Pittsburgh Friday night at 4:05 pm PDT. Starting pitchers for the Giants Carlos Rodon (5-4, 3.18) and for the Pirates Zach Thompson (3-4, ERA 4.50).

Join Daniel Dullum each Friday for the SF Giants podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Griner could be out of Russian jail in July; Mistakes the Celtics have made; plus more headlines

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WNBA star and Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner mug shot from Russian jail. Griner could be released by the Russian government by July 2022 after being held since Feb 17, 2022. The Russians had wanted a prisoner swap Griner to the US for the Merchant of Death Viktor Bout. (file photo from NY Post)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 WNBA star Britney Griner reportedly will have to stay in a Russia jail another 18 days and could be released by July. Griner is being held in Russia after being accused of having hashish oil in her suit case while trying to leave the country. Griner has been in jail since Feb 17th and is facing 10 years upon conviction.

#2 Jessica as game 6 of the NBA Finals will tip off on Thursday night the Boston Celtics have struggled losing games four and five to the Golden State Warriors who are now on the brink of winning the NBA Championship. Celtics mistakes described are a cross court pass intercepted, a dribble hand off is dropped, and a lob pass is picked off.

#3 Jessica, wanted to ask you about a female minor league announcer of the Lynchburg Hillcats the single A minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. Maura Sheridan whose story is making huge headlines after being sexually assaulted by minor league pitcher Daritzon Feliz of the Hillcats. Sheridan in August 2021. Feliz was let go by the Hillcats but the Hillcats further put out a job posting at the beginning of this season for Sheridan’s job. The Hillcats didn’t want any liability on road games with their announcers so they posted Sheridan’s job out.

#4 Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow speaking out on gun control during a press conference on Monday saying that there should be a law making it hard for people to buy those crazy guns. Burrow also said that no one should be able to just go in and buy one saying you have to go through the process to just go in and buy one.

#5 In another case of on the job harassment Phoenix Suns female employee Melissa Fender Panagiotakopoulos who reported that she was the target of bullying, retaliation from her employers after she complained of gender equity and misconduct. The Panagiotakopoulos had been with the Suns since 2007 and worked for eight years as a senior employee and resigned in May. Panagiotakopoulos had wrote a complaint letter to all 16 of the team’s ownership group.

Join Jessica every other Wednesday for Headline Sports at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Will Reds Pham be red hot over T Shirts poking fun over Fantasy Football IR players?

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One of the T shirts that San Francisco Giants Joc Pederson wanted pulled and thrown away saying “Stashing players on the IR isn’t cheating” that has set off Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham who said he was ready to pimp slap Pederson (image from bucktee.com)

On the Giants podcast with Miguel:

#1 Michael, the San Francisco Giants players thought the better of having the “Stashing players on the IR isn’t cheating” T shirts and had them thrown out after a pretty sensitive Cincinnati Reds Tommy Pham took exception to them. With the Reds coming to San Francisco on Fri Jun 24th was that the wise choice made on the Giants part?

#2 Get ready for the pimp slap: Pham was angry about Giants Joc Pederson’s setting injured players on the Injured List and saying it wasn’t cheating. Pham slapped Pederson in the face during batting practice on May 27th do you believe this is over or there’s plenty more of that coming next weekend?

#3 Pederson said that it was wise not to escalate the situation with the T shirts and Pham said all he had to do was release the IR rules and “text how I told Joc I was going to pimp slap him for cheating” which Pham did.

#4 Pederson was also not happy that his autograph was facsimiled on the T shirts as he did not approve the signature on the shirt and wants to prevent another brouhaha with Pham again. Giants pitcher Alex Cobb saw humor in them and was blown away about how Pederson could be so calm about the whole situation.

#5 The Giants open a three game series in Pittsburgh on Friday night at PNC Park. Starting Friday for the Giants Carlos Rodon (5-4, 3.18) and for the Pirates Zach Thompson (3-4, 3.50) a 4:05 pm PDT first pitch.

Join Michael for the Giants podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: A’s Kaprielian facing too much Red Sox hitting in 10-1 loss

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Boston Red Sox’s Alex Verdugo gets congratulations from first base coach Ramon Vazquez (84) after going yard for a two run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning at Fenway Park in Boston on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 The Oakland A’s (21-43) were crushed in a 10-1 laugher at Fenway Park in the third game of this four game series. Jonah Bride who was called up Tuesday got two hits on Wednesday and Matt Davidson had a pinch hit home in the sixth inning for the A’s.

#2 The Boston Red Sox (34-29) kept pouring it on and got lots of help from slugger Rafael Devers who hit for his fourth consecutive game home run.

#3 The A’s just couldn’t get any traction on this road trip and A’s manager Mark Kotsay said A’s starter James Kaprielian has had some good outings but in this loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday Kaprielian will just have to forget about this one and move on.

#4 Oakland A’s pinch hitter Matt Davidson hit a top of the sixth inning home run off Red Sox reliever and former A’s pitcher Jake Diekman which ended Boston’s shutout.

#5 The A’s conclude this ten game road trip starting with Paul Blackburn (5-2, 2.31) for the Red Sox Rich Hill (2-3, 4.38) a 10:38 AM PDT first pitch at Fenway Park.

Join Jerry for the A’s podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: The best division in baseball plus

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Copy of the New York Daily News announcing the New York Mets and New York Yankees in the Subway World Series in 2000 edition could the two cross city rivals meet again in this year’s fall classic? (photo by wikipedia)

The Best Division in Baseball, Plus

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–For the first time this 2022 season there will be a third wild card team on each league. No division in baseball is better than the American League East, with the New York Yankees walking-away with the best record in baseball and Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston poised for a tremendous race.

For the first time ever, a division could have three wild card teams going into the postseason and a total of four of the five teams in this division playing in October.

The American League East is the only division in baseball with four teams playing over .500. In the AL West, there is only one team to beat, Dusty Baker’s Houston Astros, they are the best team and will stay in first place.

The LA Angels are sputtering again, after a very nice start, they went into a funk lost 14 in a row, from May 25 to June 8,and Joe Maddon (one of the best managers in baseball) was sent packing.

Next managerial change could come from Seattle, where expectations were high for this team to win this year. Manager Scott Servais and General Manager Jerry DiPoto are in the hot seat. The Texas Rangers spend a fortune (close to half billion dollars) signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they are both starting to play the way everybody expected, but I do not believe they have the pitching to overtake their State rivals Houston Astros.

The Oakland A’s are what they are. All the other teams have more established talent, they are trying to compete with rookie manager Mark Kotsay, a good baseball man, but the best jockey in the world cannot win the race if the horse is limping.

In the Central Division, considered the weakest in all the major leagues, supposed to be an easy one for the Chicago White Sox, but the great Tony LaRussa is not having much fun so far, star closer Liam Hendriks just placed into the IL.

The Minnesota Twins will be in the playoffs, as of today leading that division and the Cleveland Guardians are playing good baseball, leading the way at third-base, José Ramirez an early candidate for MVP. Watch out for the Indians, sorry, the Guardians, they have a good team and a terrific manager in Terry Francona.

There are some 100 games left for each team this season. While in New York they are talking about a Subway Series, Mets vs Yankees. Most recently, in 2000 the New York teams faced each other with the Yankees winning in five games, a memorable series, which I happened to worked for the Latino Baseball Network.

In other cities there is lots of disappointment. In Los Angeles, the Dodgers, whose manager, Dave Roberts predicted a 2022 World Series win during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, when he said “We will win the World Series in 2022. We will win the World Series this year.”

The Dodgers have pitching problems, ace Walker Buehler recently went into the IL, Julio Urias is not going to win 20 games again this season (he was the only to win 20 last season) plus mixed with an inconsistent offense, the Dodgers have stuff to “figure out”, they do have the talent.

The San Diego Padres, at this time, even with the delayed return of superstar Fernando Tatis Jr, looks like the team that could win this division. Bob Melvin is doing a great job, which is nothing new for the three-time Manager of the Year.

The San Francisco Giants, while they are not going to win 107 games again, they find a way to win series, starter Jacob Junis went into the IL, veterans like Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt, can’t seem to stay healthy.

Giants lost some pieces in the off-season, perhaps the biggest one, starter Kevin Gausman who had his best year ever in 2021 with a 14-6 record, and 2.81 ERA, he left for a very lucrative contract in Toronto. Nobody expected the Giants to have a similar season as 2021, which was a dream season, when every player at the same time, had great years.

Trades: The new deadline this year is set for August 2. There will be many trades, some earlier than others, but the greatest commodities are starting pitchers. they are in high demand. Many of the teams with hopes of postseason play will reinforce themselves. In today’s game the old saying “you never have enough pitching” is new again.

Happy Fathers Day weekend.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for all the play by play of Oakland A’s baseball on the A’s Spanish radio network and on flagship station Le Grande 1010 KIQI San Francisco and News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Aces make it three straight beating Wings 92-84; Vegas’ tenth win in last 11 games

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Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) (below) takes aim at the free throw line and (top) forward A’ja Wilson (22) takes a jump shot against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in WNBA action on Wed Jun 15, 2022 (Image from the Las Vegas Aces Twitter account)

Aces Make It Three Straight Beating Wings 92-84

By Barbara Mason

Wednesday afternoon the Western Conference leading Las Vegas Aces (12-2) took on the Dallas Wings (6-8) at College Park Center.

The Aces had a slow start trailing by as much as ten points in the first quarter. After 12 minutes Las Vegas trailed by the score of 23-14.

The second quarter ended up a tie 21-21 and at the half the Wings led 44-35. Las Vegas had some ground to make up in the second half.

The Aces tuned on the heat in the third quarter and turned the tables on the Wings winning the quarter 31-16 in a blowout. They scored 31 third quarter points to lead 66-60 after three.

The Wings continue to hang in this game but came up short. The Aces won the fourth quarter 26-24 and the game 92.84.

Teams have been able to challenge Las Vegas but have been unable to finish games largely in part to the play of A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum. The Las Vegas starting roster is a great one. Plum and Wilson combined for 52 points to put this one away.

In addition to Plum’s 27 and Wilson’s 25, they had some great offense from Chelsea Gray and Dearica Hamby both with 16 points. Jackie Young finished with eight points. Hamby led the team in rebounds with 12 for some solid defensive play. This is the Aces third win in a row.

Next up for the Aces will be a game with the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM.